Schneier on Security

DATA AND GOLIATH. By Bruce Schneier. Norton. 365 pages. $27.95.

“Data and Goliath” is a broad-ranging assessment of our interconnected world, with all of its risks and hidden dangers, by foremost security expert Bruce Schneier. His book makes clear that we are living in the golden age of government and corporate surveillance and control. And that says nothing of the hackers and cyber criminals.

Schneier paints a dismal picture, but he offers several concrete suggestions to correct, or at least minimize, most of the problems. Take the issue of data brokers: If your business would like a list of people who fall in the category of “adults with senior parents” or “potential inheritor” or “diabetic households,” Acxiom can provide them. InfoUSA and Equifax can, too. Schneier points out that every day we allow such companies to spy on us in exchange for services. “If something is free, you are not the customer, you are the product,” he writes…